Having to replace the roof on your house because of storm damage is a stressful situation. Replacing a roof is a large undertaking, but you’ll also have the stress of working with your insurance provider when you file a claim for the damage.
Hopefully, your insurance provider will accept your claim and issue you a fair payment for the replacement. This doesn’t always happen, however. You may find that the insurance company denies your claim. Is that the end of the road? Do you have any recourse?
Yes, you do. Here at Reign Roofing, we have extensive experience with roof insurance claims in Houston, TX, including helping with claim denials. Below we’ll look at what to do if you’ve had your roof replacement claim denied.
1. Understand Why Your Claim Was Denied
Your insurance company will provide you with reasons for the claim denial. Make sure you understand these reasons before you take further steps:
- Lack of maintenance: Insurance providers may deny claims from clients if they think the damage to the roof was due to poor maintenance rather than external damage. This is often due to the lack of experience assessors have with roof damage. Keep records of maintenance and repairs to combat this.
- Policy exclusions: Carefully examine your policy to see if it excludes specific types of damage, such as from specific catastrophic events.
- Incomplete documentation: You need to provide thorough documentation when filing a claim, including photos, estimates, and paperwork, or the insurer may deny the claim. This is one of the reasons we strongly recommend you work with us during the initial claims process, as we know how to document damage and file a detailed claim.
- Late reporting: You need to report damage to your roof as soon as possible. If there’s too long a delay, your insurer may question your claim’s validity.
2. Review Your Policy
Make sure you understand your home insurance policy from front to back. Look for exclusions or limitations. You can use your knowledge of the policy when filing an appeal.
3. Contact a Professional Roofing Contractor
We hope that you’ve already started working with us by this point. If you call us for a storm damage inspection, we can help provide thorough documentation to your insurance provider. We recommend you have us present for the insurance assessor’s inspection, since we can help specific types of damage.
If you haven’t worked with us up to this point, now is the time to call! We’ll assess the condition of your roof and create a detailed rundown of the damage and the repair costs. We’ll help collect data and documentation to provide the proper paperwork for the appeal.
4. Appeal the Decision
Insurance companies have appeals processes in place. You’ll need to gather evidence to back up your claim (we can offer invaluable assistance with this) and write a detailed letter explaining why you believe your claim should be approved. If your appeal is denied, you can contact the state’s insurance commissioner to help resolve the dispute. Our team will help with other methods to get your appeal approved.
5. Consider Legal Action
You may wish to take legal action against your insurance provider. We can’t provide you with legal assistance on this blog, so you will want to consult with an attorney.